Cancer Cure News 2017: New Gene Therapy Treatment May Extend Life of Terminal Patients
The medical field has made groundbreaking advances in the cure and treatment of many life-threatening diseases in the modern world. However, despite these great strides, there are still several conditions that scientists have yet to find a foolproof cure for, one of which is considered to be the most prevalent and devastating disease that has negatively affected humanity – cancer.
However, as new research continues to reach new heights, the search for a cure for cancer could soon come to an end. In fact, U.S. pharmaceutical company Kite Pharma has recently released the groundbreaking results of their six-month gene therapy trial in which terminal cancer patients were found to be in complete remission after just a single round of treatment.
Called CAR-T-cell therapy, Kite Pharma's gene therapy treatment boosts a patient's own immune cells. Dubbed as a "living drug," it works by filtering a patient's blood to extract key immune system cells known as T-cells, which is then genetically engineered in the laboratory to recognize cancer cells.
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After the first six months of the treatment trial, 36 percent of the 101 patients were shown to be in complete remission. Moreover, eight out of 10 patients saw their cancer shrink by at least half during the course of the trial.
"The numbers are fantastic," said Dr. Fred Locke, a blood cancer expert at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa who co-led the study, according toTelegraph.
"These are heavily treated patients who have no other options," he added.
Martin Ledwick, the head cancer information nurse of Cancer Research U.K., also spoke about the gene therapy trial and said, "These results are promising and suggest that one day, CAR-T cells could become a treatment option for some patients with certain types of lymphoma."
"But, we need to know more about the side effects of the treatment and long term benefits," he added.
Despite the promise the CAR-T-cell therapy holds, there are still concerns about the significant side effects caused by the treatment. In fact, because the gene therapy puts the immune system in overdrive, two people have died from the therapy itself and not from the cancer.
Hence, as reported by the Telegraph, 13 percent of the participants of the study developed a dangerous condition in which their immune systems overreacted while battling the cancer. Also, roughly a third of the patients developed anemia or other blood-count-related issues. Almost a third of the participants also reported temporary neurological problems.
Full results of the study will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research conference scheduled to take place in April.
